The economy is weak, the price of oil has collapsed, and the loonie is doing a swan dive, but Canadians are remarkably happy with the performance of the federal government and the general direction of the country, according to a new survey conducted by Nanos Research for Policy Options magazine.

Positive about Liberal government

A large majority (60 per cent) rated the performance of the new Liberal government good or very good. That’s a record in the nine years the annual survey has been conducted.

The previous high came after the Conservative victory in 2011, but that peak was only 40 per cent positive. More surprisingly given present economic woes, Canadians are almost as bullish on the general direction of the country.

Canada moving in right direction

Sixty-three per cent said Canada “is moving in the right direction” — only a hair below the 66 per cent who said the same in 2007, when the economy was booming. The most dramatic change recorded by the survey involves federal-provincial relations, which slightly more than half of Canadians felt had improved — a positive assessment more than double the highest response since 2007.